Rising
by Pitch's-Lover
Summary: Epilogue to Black Ice. Be gentle never done epilogues before. Six years after Cherny's birth thigs have started happening, things that even the King of Nightmares would fear.
1. Lost Control

"You're silly Daddy." A young girls voice rang out.  
"Silly. I am the King of Nightmares. I and terrifying not silly. I can prove it!" Pitch raised his arms above his head and started towards the six year old girl. She squealed happily and ran off. Just at that moment Jack landed in the entrance tunnel to their home. The girl saw him and started laughing.  
"Mommy, Mommy save me! Daddy's trying to get me!" She ran toward the winter spirit and clung to his leg.  
"Oh is he?" Jack picked her up and flew back up to the surface where the sunlight was streaming through the snow covered trees. Pitch emerged from the shadow on the ground. Jack saw him and clutched the girl tighter and flew midway up a tree.  
"Now what are you going to do Daddy?" Cherny called down. Pitch disappeared into another shadow and emerged right in front of them.  
"I'm going to get Mommy to hand you over. Unless he intends to take on the tickling intended for you." Jack sighed in mock defeat.  
"I'm sorry Cher-Cher..." She clung to him even tighter, laughing even more.  
"No! No mommy don't." Jack handed her to Pitch who then melded back into the shadows with her, reappearing at the bottom of the tree. Cherny was laughing trying to escape her fathers skilled tickle-fingers.  
"Cherny, the ribs, go for his ribs!" Jack called down. She complied managing to catch Pitch off guard. Jack flew down and gently wrestled him to the ground. "Let's get him." He said as they both set about trying to tickle Pitch.  
"All right! All right! I give up." Pitch called out in between laughs. Jack and Cherny relented and high fived each other.  
"We beat Daddy!" Cherny shouted jumping into Jack arms. Jack nods and rubs noses with her. Pitch, dusting himself off, places a gentle hand on her head.  
"Having fun?" A voice asked from nearby. they all turned to the source of the voice.  
"Uncle Bunny!" Cherny smiled climbing out of Jacks arms to give Bunnymund a hug. Pitch looked away, embarrassed that Bunny had seen him acting like that. With the others there wasn't much of an issue but for some reason Pitch hated the thought of Bunny seeing him like that.  
"Heya little ankle-biter." He said picking her up.  
"Bunny!" Jack said. "What are you doing here?" Jack asked. Bunny locked eyes with them, seriousness carved into his expression, as he put Cherny down.  
"We need to talk." Jack and Pitch looked at each other, concerned but nodded.  
"Cherney ,sweetie. Let's go back inside ok?" Jack said. She smiled and took Jacks hand and they all went down into the tunnels. The took Cherny into her room and told her to play in there and not to leave. She didn't ask why, she knew something was going on. Then Pitch, Jack and Bunny went into a different room to talk.  
"So what's going on Rabbit?" Pitch asked Bunny just glared at him.  
"Like you don't already know." He said angrily. "Nightmares have been running around rampant. The children of the world are all terrified. What the hell do you think you're DOING!?" He shouted at Pitch. Pitch sat wide-eyed at the outburst.  
"I haven't been doing anything." He said calmly. "I haven't made any new nightmares. I only have the few from before." He said flatly.  
"Yeah, sure. Then what the hell have me and North been chasing the past few days!?" Bunny spat glaring daggers at the nightmare king. Pitch shrugged.  
"I have no idea. They aren't mine if they were I would know. I have an attachment to my nightmares, these ones can't be my creation. To illustrate my point..." He placed his fingers to his lips and whistled. A nightmare trotted out of the shadows standing next to Pitch. "See Bunny my nightmares obey my command and I haven't commanded any to scare." He started to place a hand on the nightmares neck when it whinnied, turned, and Kicked Pitch hard enough to send him flying into the opposite wall. He slumped to the ground and Jack ran over to see if he was alright. Groggily Pitch sat up, hearing a voice in his head.  
_ "We are no longer your servantssss Lord of Shadowsssss. We free ourselves and fulfill our purpose. Fear."_ Pitch shook his head. and the nightmare ran back through the wall.  
"What happened?" Jack asked.  
"The nightmares don't obey me anymore. They have left to cause fear and chaos on their own. And without a master Nightmares cannot be controlled."


	2. Stolen

Pitch slumped against a chimney, trying to catch his breath. They had been chasing Nightmares for hours. Him, Jack, and Bunny. North would have been trying to help but he had agreed to watch Cherny since Pitch knew most about the nightmares. Jack flew to his side.  
"Pitch are you ok?" He asked placing a hand on his shoulder. Pitch nodded and stood and the chase resumed. Leaping from roof to roof Pitch was slowly guiding the Nightmares towards either Jack or Bunnymund to dispatch. He still felt useless, no matter how much he tried he couldn't dissolve the nightmares back into his possession. soon they all found themselves on the outskirts of the city. Only a few Nightmares left. Pitch lept off the last roof landing elegantly on his feet. Jack floated next to him and Bunny ran up on his other side. Pitch faced the nightmares.  
"You cannot win this." He said firmly.  
"Yessss we can Nightmare Lord." One of the nightmares hissed in his head. "For we know what you aren't willing to rissssk, what you will never harm." Jack cried out as he was dragged down, his head bouncing off the ground, as a tendril of shadow grabbed his ankle. It pulled him over towards the nightmares where he was surrounded by black sand.  
"JACK!" he cried out. He started forward only to stop when sand formed around Jacks neck and started to squeeze. "No! D-Dont hurt him." He said staring at jacks wide-eyed face.  
"No... we wont hurt him. That would be letting you off easy. No we intend to keep him from you. Never letting him see the light of day. And we will consssstantly remind you how his fate is all. Your. Fault." Pitch opened his mouth to say something. "Or we could kill him right now in front of you while you stand there helplesssssss." Pitch stared at Jack, years welling up in his eyes. "We go and he lives, for now. Fight usss he dies."  
"I-I'm so sorry Jack." Pitch said closing his eyes not being able to watch as the nightmares sped off with his love in their vile clutches. He opened his eyes as Bunny placed a comforting paw on his shoulder.  
"It'll be alright. We'll get him Back. I promise." Pitch sighed, brushing past Bunny to head home. He paused just as he reached the entrance, guilt flooding over him as he knew Cherney was waiting to see them both. He melted into the shadows reappearing inside the main chamber of his home. Cherney and North were laughing over some game they were playing when she looked up her eyes sparkling.  
"Daddy!" she called running over to hug Pitch. "You're back! Yay!" She smiled up at him but her happiness quickly made way to confusion. "Daddy, where's Mommy?" Pitch clenched his fists looking away from his daughter as tears came to his eyes. He tried to fight them back but they came on strong. He sank to his knees pulling the small child close.  
"I'm so sorry baby." He said between his sobs "Th-They took Mommy. I-I tried to save him but..." Cherny took her fathers face in her small hands and made Pitch look at her.  
"It's ok Daddy. I know you'll get him back." Pitch's heart cracked at his daughters strength. He sobbed into her shoulder repeating 'I'm so sorry...' over and over. North place a gentle hand on Pitch's shoulder.  
"Me and Bunny will go try to hunt down where the nightmares are. They will pay dearly for taking him." Pitch wiped his face and looked up at North with hope. "We will be sure to contact you when we find them. You keep her safe." He told Pitch, who nodded. North then left to find Bunny.

It had been three days since that night. Pitch was doing terrible. The nightmares kept their word and plagued him in his sleep with images of Jack chained up in pure darkness. Jack kept calling for Pitch, begging him to come. Pitch almost always woke up suddenly, covered in sweat, his heart racing. Then tears would come and he would lay there in his empty bed wishing he could have spared Jack from this somehow. Of course tonight the nightmare was slightly different. The nightmares taunted him with Jack, showing Pitch his beloved Frostbite wasting away in the darkness. But then it showed three different prisons, one containing North, another had bunny, and the last Tooth.  
"Your friendssss have failed to bring your love back to you. Now what will you do? You have nowhere else to turn. Sssssubmit to usss, and we might let them go." Pitch woke up screaming. He had no choice, he had to find them himself. But how? He didn't know where they were and it's not like he could take Cherney with him. He thought of Sandman, he had defeated the nightmares before. It was his only choice. He molded himself into the shadows and went up to the surface looking for the streaks of golden sand that announced Sandy's nightly visit. What he saw was nothing near what he expected. Sandy was already there, Fighting an entire army of nightmares by himself. Pitch watched as Sandy fought he was holding his own very well but it didn't last. Sandy was surrounded and slowly, slowly beaten down by the nightmares. The golden sand was absorbed into the swirling mass of black that fused together into one lone Nightmare, who then landed directly in front of Pitch.  
"You sssee Shadow King without you we are more, we are powerful. You cannot fight ussss."  
"Won't stop me from trying!" He shouted forming his sythe out of his sand. He swung at the nightmare who jumped out of reach.  
"If you continue to fight uss we can alwayss go after the girl." The nightmare hissed, the nose echoing in Pitches skull. Pitch halted pure fury turning his face into a deep, deep shade of grey.  
"You wouldn't dare touch my daughter." He hissed back.  
"If it's the only way to show you our power then yessss we will." The nightmare spat. Pitch let his scythe dissolve.  
"If I knew where you were hiding..." He spat before melting back into the shadows. The nightmare sped off and Pitch followed silently from the shadows until they came to where the nightmares must have been hiding. Pitch memorized the place before quickly speeding back home to wait for his daughter to wake. As soon as Cherny woke Pitch scooped her into his arms.  
"Good morning my darling." He said softly. She immediately picked up that something was wrong.  
"What's wrong daddy?" She asked.  
"You have to listen to me baby," He said, gently sitting her down. "I know where mommy was taken. However, all the other guardians are there as well. I have to go an help them but I can't leave you here. They'll take you too." Her eyes widened as she hung on to her fathers words sensing the seriousness in them. "I have to take you with me. But when I do you must promise me to stay in the shadows. I know you will want to help, but don't stay in the shadows ok my love?" She shook her head slightly trying to take it all in.  
"I-I promise daddy. But please don't get hurt. I wouldn't like that. And I know Mommy wouldn't either."


	3. Saved

Pitch cradled his daughter in the shadows. He was looking out at Jack and the others, he knew that he couldn't fight all the nightmares, not that he didn't want to try. But for the sake of the small child in his arms he wouldn't. He gently set her down within the shadows.  
"Stay here, Cherny. I will try to get Jack and the others out. But you have to stay here. No matter what." The girl nodded her eyes widening in concern. Pitch stepped out of the shadows and stood there as they nightmares eyed him.  
"We ssssee you have made up your mind, Lord of the Shadowssss. " The nightmares hissed.  
"I have. You will let them go. And I will take their place."  
"NO! Pitch don't! Don't give up to them!" Jack called out from his cage. One of the nightmares kicked at the cage.  
"Sssssilence!" Some of the nightmares dissolved and surrounded Pitch forming a wall around him. He just sighed.  
"Now let them go." He said. The nightmares cackled hideously, echoing the despicable sound throughout the chamber.  
"You actually presumed to think we would ever releasssse the only people who would ever be able to oppose usss?" They continued their sickening laughter. Pitches eyes widened. Absolute pure fury flashed in his eyes. He summoned his scythe and tried to swing at them only to have sand tendrils wrap around his throat and squeeze tightly. He still tired to fight but quickly collapsed to the ground struggling for air, which the nightmares still denied him. It was only when he was on the verge of passing out that the nightmares released him. Gasping he stood.  
"Y-You have what you want! Take me. Destroy me if you must but let them go!" The nightmares all dissolved and reformed as a near mirror image of Pitch. Grabbing his cloak they Pulled him close.  
"No! We have ssserved you sssince your creation as Nightmare King. We no longer have a king. We. Are. The. King!" With that the nightmares slammed Pitch into the ground. "You will now serve ussss, Pitch Black!" They lifted him up and wrestled him down to his knees. "Now bow before your Master!" they shouted their nails cutting deep into Pitch's face.  
"You were nothing until I created you!" Pitch spat back. "You will never be master to me!" the sand-Pitch shrieked in fury. They slashed at his chest cutting his flesh and robe to ribbons before slamming his head into the ground again.  
"NO DADDY!" Cherney cried out running from the shadows, tears in her eyes. All eyes widened at the child entered. The nightmares smirked and Pitch felt his stomach sink. The nightmares grabbed Pitch by the throat.  
"If you won't ssssubmit to us for the sssake of your own life, then maybe will her her life." shadows creeped out from around sand-Pitch snaking their way to her as he walked closer, the nightmare king's throat still in his hand.  
"Cher! RUN!" Jack called out from his cage. Cherney stayed, fear not allowing her to move.  
"Sssuch a beautiful child." the nightmares said sweetly. Pitch fought with more ferocity than he ever believed he had in him. He kept shouting for the nightmares to leave her alone, pleas that they chose to ignore. Pitch once again summoned his scythe and attempted to strike at the sand copy. The nightmares dissolved again pinning Pitch to a wall and forming into a hoard of nightmares once again. They started towards the child again, who whimpered in fear. She heard a sound and looked up into the eyes of her father.  
"Cher... Please run?" Cherney stood her ground and looked back to the nightmares in anger.  
"NO!" she swung at a nightmare that had ventured too close to the child, the nightmare fell apart and the sand ventured back into pitches hands. "Give daddy back!" she shouted. Suddenly the strongest wind ever came howling into the cave, Cherney's hair writhed around her. Icicles followed the wind piercing many nightmares many times. Every time a nightmare was hit the ice would spread freezing them where they stood. then a final icicle would hit and the nightmares would shatter and dissolve back into ordinary sand that Pitch continued to reabsorb. When it was over the girl collapsed, tears falling from her eyes. Pitch ran to her, his blood still dripping from his wounds.  
"Cher? Are you all right? Are you ok?" She nodded climbing onto her fathers lap, a death grip on what was left of his robes.  
"D-Don't be mad daddy. I know you told me to stay put but..." Pitch laughed pulling the child closer.  
"Its ok baby. Its ok." He said wiping off the childs tears. He lifted her into his arms and turned to face the others. With the slightest flick of his wrist the sand holding the others fell away and Jack ran out tackling his family in a hug. It took a long time but eventually Jack let go, smiling with pride at his daughter who he then took into his arms.  
"Thank you Cher. You saved us. All of us" The girl smiled and squeezed Jack tightly. Suddenly Pitch cried out. He collapsed to he ground, worried faces being the last thing he saw when everything went pitch black.

Pitch's eyes fluttered open, finding himself in a familiar room. The infirmary at the pole. Pitch looked around and saw Jack sitting next to him. He moved to sit up only to be held down bay Jack.  
"No Pitch... Don't move." He said softly. "Y-You lost a lot of blood."  
"How long have I been out?" Pitch asked settling back again.  
"Three days. I've been watching over you. North just left he's going to look you over. He thinks your wounds have healed. He said that if that was the case you would be ready to leave as whenever you woke up." It was then that Pitch noticed how worn out Jack looked.  
"You haven't left here have you. You haven't even slept." Pitch said.  
"I couldn't... I had to make sure that you were ok. I have been sleeping but only when someone else could watch you. Which wasn't very often." Pitch reached a hand out, Jack took it. Shortly after North came back, Cherny following behind him.  
"Mommy? Is daddy..." Pitch turned to look at his daughter. "Daddy!" She cried running over and leaping into the bed.  
"You are awake? How do you feel?" North asked.  
"Sore." Pitch said simply. North explained the they were going to remove his bandages to see how he looked. Jack sat up and straddled Pitch's hips. Helping Pitch sit up Jack slowly started unwrapping the bandages around Pitch's chest. As the final layer came away, they all gasped. Pitch's chest had nothing on it save for a few faint scars. Jack smiled and snuggled up against Pitch. Cherny crawled up to Pitch's other side. He cradled them both as in his strong, warm arms as they both fell asleep. relieved that their personal nightmare was finally over.


End file.
